Multiple distant musician audio loop recording apparatus and listening method

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, an apparatus comprising a first audio looping device is provided. The first audio looping device is electrically coupled to a computing device. The first audio looping device is programmed to receive a first audio signal from a musical instrument and to store the first audio signal. The first audio looping device is further programmed to playback the stored first audio signal as a first audio loop a number of times and to transmit the first audio loop to a second audio looping device via the first computing device. The first audio looping device is further programmed to receive a second audio loop from the second audio looping device via the computing device.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Aspects disclosed herein generally relate to a multiple distancemusician audio loop recording apparatus and method.

BACKGROUND

Musicians, such as guitarists, bassists, keyboard players, etc. may usean audio looping device to record a baseline rhythm for playback. Theaudio looping device plays back the underlying rhythm track (or loop) toallow the musician to play over the track with additional rhythms orsolos. For example, the musician may record and set a length of aninitial loop with the audio looping device so that additional layers ofmusical parts are played over the initial loop to build a multipartmusical piece with a single instrument.

In one example, the audio looping device may be implemented in the formof a pedal that is positioned between the musical instrument and anamplifier. The musician may activate or deactivate recording a rhythmand subsequently activate the playback of the recorded loop via a switchon the pedal by foot or hand. The audio looping device, whileimplemented in the form of a pedal, may be daisy-chained with a numberof additional pedals (e.g., distortion, chorus, and reverb) to enablethe musician to achieve any number of desired audio outputs for his/herinstrument. In another example, the audio looping device may beimplemented into an integrated multi-effects unit along with a number ofmusical instrument effects that also enable the musician to achieve anynumber of desired audio outputs for his/her musical instrument. Therecording of the loop and the playback of the recorded loops with anaudio looping device (e.g., either as a pedal or integrated within themulti-effects unit) and the addition of various musical layers over theloop is generally viewed or seen as a single musician endeavor or “oneman band.”

SUMMARY

In one embodiment, an apparatus comprising a first audio looping deviceis provided. The first audio looping device is electrically coupled to acomputing device. The first audio looping device is programmed toreceive a first audio signal from a musical instrument and to store thefirst audio signal. The first audio looping device is further programmedto playback the stored first audio signal as a first audio loop a numberof times and to transmit the first audio loop to a second audio loopingdevice via the first computing device. The first audio looping device isfurther programmed to receive a second audio loop from the second audiolooping device via the computing device.

In another embodiment, a computer-program product embodied in anon-transitory computer readable medium is provided and that isprogrammed to enable communication between a first audio looping devicethat plays back a first audio loop a first number of times and a secondaudio looping device that plays back a second audio loop a second numberof times. The computer-program product comprising instructions toreceive the first audio loop from the first audio looping device and totransmit the first audio loop to the second audio looping device togenerate the second audio loop. The computer-program product comprisesinstructions to receive the second audio loop from the second audiolooping device and to generate a notification to alert a user of thefirst audio looping device that the second audio loop from the secondaudio looping device has been received.

In another embodiment, an apparatus comprising a first audio loopingdevice is provided. The first audio looping device is electricallycoupled to a computing device. The first audio looping device isprogrammed to receive a first audio signal from a musical instrument andto store the first audio signal. The first audio looping device isfurther programmed to playback the stored first audio signal as a firstaudio loop a number of times and to transmit the first audio loop to asecond audio looping device via the first computing device. The firstaudio looping device is further programmed to receive a second audioloop from the second audio looping device via the computing device. Thesecond audio loop includes a second audio signal that is played back asecond number of times.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments of the present disclosure are pointed out withparticularity in the appended claims. However, other features of thevarious embodiments will become more apparent and will be bestunderstood by referring to the following detailed description inconjunction with the accompany drawings in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a system for transmitting audio loops between musiciansin accordance to one embodiment;

FIG. 2 depicts a method for generating and transmitting a first recordedloop from the first looping device to a second looping device and thesubsequent generation and transmission of a second recorded loop back tothe first looping device in accordance to one embodiment;

FIG. 3 depicts a method for generating timestamps for each of the firstand the second recorded loops in accordance to one embodiment; and

FIGS. 4A-4C depict various methods for managing recorded loops inaccordance to one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosedherein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodimentsare merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in variousand alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; somefeatures may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particularcomponents. Therefore, specific structural and functional detailsdisclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as arepresentative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variouslyemploy the present invention.

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally provide for a pluralityof circuits or other electrical devices. All references to the circuitsand other electrical devices and the functionality provided by each, arenot intended to be limited to encompassing only what is illustrated anddescribed herein. While particular labels may be assigned to the variouscircuits or other electrical devices disclosed, such labels are notintended to limit the scope of operation for the circuits and the otherelectrical devices. Such circuits and other electrical devices may becombined with each other and/or separated in any manner based on theparticular type of electrical implementation that is desired. It isrecognized that any circuit or other electrical device disclosed hereinmay include any number of microprocessors, integrated circuits, memorydevices (e.g., FLASH, random access memory (RAM), read only memory(ROM), electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM), electricallyerasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), or other suitablevariants thereof, and software which co-act with one another to performoperation(s) disclosed herein.

Various audio looping devices have been used by musicians as a singleindependent device. The musician may use the audio looping device torecord a first loop (i.e., record a particular rhythm track for thepurpose of having the recorded loop repeated or played back a number oftimes), set a length of the loop and sequentially add multiple audioparts (or overdub) over the first loop to build up a multipart musicalpiece on a single device. In one example, a guitarist may record abaseline rhythm track with the audio looping device and then have theaudio looping device playback the recorded rhythm while the guitar playsa solo along with the recorded loop. In another example, a guitarist mayrecord a baseline rhythm track with the audio looping device. While theaudio looping device is playing the recorded baseline rhythm, theguitarist can overdub another rhythm track over the recorded baselinerhythm loop which is merged with the baseline loop such that bothrecorded parts are played back together. This enhances the level ofcreativity for the guitarist and aids in the overall production ofmusic.

The genre of looping has always been a “one man band” endeavor, as audiolooping devices are designed to allow a single musician to build up acomplete looping song. It is recognized herein that an audio loopingdevice can be provided to control and allow additional separate audiolooping devices to be connected together and to work in conjunction witheach other to allow for a more complex looping experience. Such alooping experience may include a single musician with multiple audiolooping devices (i.e., that are synchronized with one another). In thiscase, the musician may couple multiple looping devices together andrecord a corresponding loop on each looping device. Each recorded loopat each corresponding audio looping device may be different from oneanother. To playback the recorded loops at the various audio loopingdevices, a master audio looping device may synchronize the loops asplayed back at each audio looping device to ensure that the multiplenumber of loops are played back at the proper sequence or timing (i.e.,to prevent the loop from exhibiting a drift condition). One example ofthe manner in which audio looping devices may be synchronized with oneanother is set forth in co-pending application U.S. Ser. No. 14/042,283(or U.S. Publication No. ______), filed on Sep. 13, 2013 to Clements etal. The looping experience may also be extended to multiple musicianswho each have an audio looping device. In this case, a guitarist canrecord a guitar loop at a first looping device and a bassist can recorda bass loop at a second looping device. The first looping device may beset as a master and synchronize the playback of the guitar loop and thebass loop to ensure that they start at the same time.

In addition to those noted above, aspects disclosed herein generallyenable multiple musicians in remote locations to work collaboratively onmusical pieces and to build such musical pieces in real time. Thisaspect may enable musicians to collaborate on a piece of music, a liveaction performance that can even have crowd sourced input, and/orprovide a relaxing way to practice and perform music casually withothers in a musical social networking context. For example, a firstmusician in a first location may transmit a first recorded loop from afirst looping device via a computer network to a second looping devicepositioned in a different location from the first location. A secondmusician associated with the second looping device may then receive thefirst recorded loop and record a second recorded loop over the firstrecorded loop. The second musician may then transmit both the firstrecorded loop and the second recorded loop back to the first musician orto another musician (e.g., another musician who is located in adifferent location than the first and the second musician) wheresubsequent recorded loops can be recorded along with the first recordedloop and the second recorded loop. These aspects and others will bedescribed in more detail below.

FIG. 1 depicts a system 10 for transmitting audio loops betweenmusicians 12 a-12 n (“12”) in accordance to one embodiment. A number ofmusicians 12 is illustrated and each musician 12 is configured to play aparticular musical instrument 14 a-14 n (“14”). For example, musician 12a may be a guitarist that plays the guitar 14 a and musician 12 n may bea keyboardist that plays the keyboard 14 n. A corresponding amplifier 16a-16 n (“16) is provided for each musician 12 to amplify an audio outputfrom each instrument 14 n. Each musician 12 may also include acorresponding audio looping device 18 a-18 n. For example, the guitarist12 a may record and play back an audio loop (or guitar loop) from theguitar via the audio looping device 18 a and the keyboardist 12 n mayrecord and playback an audio loop (or keyboard loop) via the audiolooping device 18 n.

It is recognized that any number of instruments 14 may be used for thecorresponding audio looping devices 18 for the purpose of recording andplayback of various audio loops. In general, each audio looping device18 is configured to record a corresponding piece of music (e.g., loop)for its corresponding instrument 14 and to playback the recorded loopwhich can be repeated any number of times (e.g., this can be set by themusician at the audio looping device 18). For example, the guitarist 12a may record a rhythm (or lick) and playback the rhythm as a guitar loopat the audio looping device 18 a; the bassist 12 b may record a rhythm(or bass line) and playback the rhythm as a bass loop at the audiolooping device 18 b, and the keyboardist 12 n may record a rhythm andplayback the rhythm as a keyboard loop at the audio looping device 18 n.While each audio looping device 18 is generally shown as a pedal, it isrecognized that the audio looping devices 18 may be integrated into amulti-effects unit which comprises a number of different effects formodifying the audio output of a particular instrument 14.

The system 10 includes any number of computing devices 20 a-20 n (“20”)that are electrically coupled to the various audio looping devices 18a-18 n, respectively. It is recognized that each musician 12 and thecorresponding audio looping device 18 (in addition to the computingdevice 20) may be located in different locations from one another. Eachaudio looping device 18 includes a transceiver 17 for wirelesslycommunicating with a corresponding computing device 20. For example, theaudio looping device 18 a may wirelessly transmit a first audio loop tothe computing device 20 a. Alternatively, the audio looping device 18 nmay wirelessly transmit a second audio loop to the computing device 20n. It is recognized that any of the audio looping devices 18 may behardwire coupled to corresponding computing devices 20. A server (orcomputing device) 22 facilitates communication between the computingdevice 20 a and the computing device 20 n. For example, the server 22may communicate with the computing device 20 a and the computing device20 n via a data communication link 24 such as, but not limited to, aTransmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) or othersuitable mechanism.

In operation, the musician 12 a may play the instrument 14 a and recorda guitar loop (or first audio loop) which is stored on the audio loopingdevice 18 a. The musician 12 a may then proceed to wirelessly transmitthe first audio loop to the computing device 20 a. In this case, themusician 12 a may select at least one control 25 a on the audio loopingdevice 18 a for uploading or transmitting the first audio loop to thecomputing device 20 a. The at least one control 25 a may comprise anynumber of switches (or buttons) which when selected by the musician 12a, proceeds to upload the first audio loop to the computing device 20 a.It is recognized that the audio looping device 18 a may store andtransmit the first audio loop as a .WAV file or other suitable fileformat to the computing device 20 a. The computing device 20 a mayexecute an application for providing a user interface such that thefirst audio loop can be transmitted from the computing device 20 a andonto the server 22 for subsequent transmission to the musician 12 n toreceive the first audio loop.

The application, when executed on the computing device 20, may allowvarious musicians 12 a to select the corresponding musician 12 n toreceive an audio loop. For example, each musician 12 may establish auser name that corresponds to himself/herself on a correspondingcomputing device 20 such that the corresponding computing device 20provides the user name to the server 22. The server 22 stores the username and corresponding identification of the computing device 20 a thatcreated the user name. The server 22 may provide a listing of user namesthat correspond to the various musicians 12 on the various computingdevices 20. Thus, this condition enables the musician 12 a to select themusician 12 n that is the intended recipient of the first audio loop viathe user interface on the computing device 20 a. It is recognized thatmusician 12 n shares their corresponding user name with the musician 12a so that the musician 12 a can select the user name when he/she isready to transmit the first audio loop. This condition applies equallyin the other direction (e.g., musician 12 a shares his/her correspondinguser name with the musician 12 n so that the musician 12 a may receivean audio loop from the musician 12 n).

The computing device 20 a transmits the first audio loop to the server22 in response to the musician 12 a selecting the desired musician 12 nto receive the first audio loop via the user interface. The server 22,in turn, transmits the first audio loop to the computing device 20 n forthe musician 12 n. The musician 12 n may then control the computingdevice 20 n to wirelessly transmit the first audio loop to thetransceiver 17 n on the audio looping device 18 n. Alternatively, thecomputing device 20 n may automatically transmit the latest audio loopthat it receives to the audio looping device 18 n once the computingdevice 20 n recognizes or detects the presence of the audio loopingdevice 18 n. It is recognized that each audio looping device 18 will bepaired with its corresponding computing device 20 prior to the audiolooping device 18 transmitting/receiving various audio loops to/from thecomputing device 20 a. The musician 12 n may then begin playing back thefirst audio loop (e.g., a guitar loop) and also create a second audioloop (e.g., a bass loop) that can be stored and synchronized with thefirst audio loop. The musician 12 n may then upload both the first andthe second audio loop to the computing device 20 n via the at least onecontrol 25 which is then transmitted to the server 22 and subsequentlyback to the computing device 20 a and to the audio looping device 18 aof the musician 12 a. The foregoing condition is performed if themusician 12 n selects the audio looping device 18 a of the musician 12a, via the computing device 12 n, to be the desired destination. It isrecognized that the musician 12 n may transmit the first and the secondaudio loop to another musician (e.g., other than the musician 12 a) oralternatively to the musician 12 a and another musician not shown inFIG. 1. As can be seen with the above description, the embodimentsenable a multiple number of musicians who are located in differentgeographical regions to work on a combined audio track with multipleaudio looping devices that are running independent of one another.

FIG. 2 depicts a method 50 for generating and transmitting the firstaudio loop from the audio looping device 18 a to the second loopingdevice 18 n and the subsequent generation and transmission of the secondaudio loop back to the first looping device 18 a in accordance to oneembodiment.

In operation 52, the audio looping device 18 a receives an indicationfrom the musician 12 a to initiate recording the first audio loop. Forexample, a foot switch (not shown) may be toggled by the musician 12 ato initiate recording a musical piece that the musician 12 a intends toplay on the musical instrument 14 a.

In operation 54, the audio looping device 18 a records the musical piecethat the musician 12 a is presently playing on the musical instrument 14a to provide the first audio loop.

In operation 56, the audio looping device 18 a initiates a playfunction. In this operation, the musician 12 a toggles the foot switchto indicate that an end of the first audio loop has been reached.

In operation 58, the audio looping device 18 a plays back the firstaudio loop and loops back to the beginning of the recorded track of themusical piece (or loops back to the start of the first audio loop) whenthe end of the first audio loop is reached.

In operation 60, the audio looping device 18 a establishes a looplength, a track length, a loop type and a tempo of the first audio loop.The loop length is generally the overall length of time of the firstaudio loop. The track length is an overall length of blocks of data thatforms the first audio loop. It is recognized that the blocks of datathat form the first audio loop may comprise audio data and non-audiodata such as blocks of silent data. Each block may include 32, 64, 128,etc. samples of data (or 32, 64, 128, etc. samples per block). The looptempo is generally defined as a number of beats per minute and/or beatsper measure of the first audio loop. The loop type may be a fade outtype, an instantaneous stop type, or an immediate stop type. The fadeout type may be a loop that is created by the musician 12 to fade awayat an end of the loop. The instantaneous stop type may be a loop thatstops at a start point of the next first audio loop. The immediate stoploop (or “loop finish”) is set or programmed to stop playing the loopimmediately.

In operation 62, the audio looping device 18 a (or the transceiver 17 a)wirelessly transmits the first audio loop and each of the loop length,the track length, loop type, and the tempo of the first audio loop tothe computing device 20 a and subsequently to the audio looping device18 n via the server 22 and the computing device 20 n. This operation maybe automatically performed once the computing device 20 n detects thepresence of the audio looping device 18 n. The audio looping device 18 nand/or the computing device 20 n may overwrite previously received orstored audio loops with the first audio loop. In other words, the lastrecorded audio loop wins and is stored on the corresponding audiolooping device 18 n. The audio looping device 18 n stores the firstaudio loop and first loop information (e.g., the loop length, tracklength, loop type, and the tempo of the first audio loop).

It is recognized that each of the computing devices 20 a-20 n may bearranged to allow its corresponding musician 12 a-12 n, respectively, tosave and store any previously recorded and/or received audio loops andcorresponding loop information (e.g., the loop length, track length,loop type, and the tempo of the corresponding audio loop) onto thecorresponding computing devices 20 a-20 n after such recorded and/orreceived audio loops have been received. For example, in connection withthe first audio loop and first loop information that is received at theaudio looping device 18 n, each of the computing devices 20 a and 20 nmay store the first audio loop and the first loop information thereonfor later use. In another embodiment, each computing device 20 a maysimply overwrite the previously received audio loop and received loopinformation with the latest audio loop and the latest loop informationthat are received. This aspect will be discussed in more detail below.

In operation 64, the audio looping device 18 n begins playing back thefirst audio loop. The audio looping device 18 n plays back the firstaudio loop in accordance to the loop information (e.g., the loop length,the track length, the loop type, and the tempo).

In operation 66, the audio looping device 18 n receives an indicationfrom the musician 12 n to initiate recording a second audio loop. Forexample, a foot switch (not shown) may be toggled by the musician 12 ato initiate recording a musical piece that the musician 12 n intends toplay on the musical instrument 14 n while the first audio loop is beingplayed back. Thus, the second audio loop is a combined audio loop thatincludes the musical piece that the musician 12 n intends to play whilethe first audio loop is being played back in addition to the first audioloop itself.

In operation 68, the audio looping device 18 n records the musical piecethat the musician 12 n plays in addition to the first audio loop togenerate the combined audio loop. The combined audio loop includes themusical piece that is simultaneously played along with the first audioloop (e.g., the second audio loop) in addition to the first audio loop.

In operation 70, the audio looping device 18 n initiates a playfunction. In this operation, the musician 12 n toggles the foot switchto indicate that an end of the second audio loop has been reached. Whenthe second audio loop has been recorded, the audio looping device 18 nsynchronizes the second audio loop with the first audio loop andsubsequently provides the combined audio loop. Prior to playback, it isgenerally necessary to synchronize the loops (e.g., the first audio loopand the second audio loop) to ensure that each loop has the samestarting point and to ensure that both the loops as played back by theaudio looping device 18 n do not drift with respect to one another. Itis recognized that the audio looping device 18 n also generates the loopinformation (e.g., the loop length, the track length, the loop type, andthe tempo) for the second audio loop in which the second audio loop issimultaneously played along with the first audio loop. It is furtherrecognized that the second audio loop may have an overall loop lengththat is set to the loop length of the first audio loop or to an integermultiple of the loop length of the first audio loop. For example, if theloop length of the first audio loop is three minutes and twenty seconds,the loop length of the second audio loop may have a loop length of threeminutes and twenty second, or six minutes and forty seconds, and so on.The overall loop length of the second audio loop will be set orestablished by the musician 12 n during the recording operation. Inaddition, if the musician 12 n ends the recording of the second audioloop prior to an expiration of the first audio loop, then the secondaudio looping device 18 n pads the second audio loop with silence untilthe first audio loop expires. The musician 12 n may also establish theloop type for the second audio loop (e.g., fade out, instantaneous stop,or immediate stop).

In operation 72, the audio looping device 18 n plays back (or loops) thecombined audio loop which includes the second audio loop as generated bythe musician 12 n and the first audio loop. During the play back of thecombined audio loop, the first audio loop is synchronized with thesecond audio loop.

In operation 74, the audio looping device 18 n wirelessly transmits thecombined audio loop to the computing device 20 n and subsequently to theaudio looping device 18 a via the server 22 and the computing device 20a. The audio looping device 18 a may overwrite the first audio loop asrecorded in operation 58 as part of a file transfer operation. In thiscase, the audio looping device 18 a overwrites the previous audio loop(e.g., the first audio loop) with the most recent audio loop (e.g., thecombined audio loop). This aspect will be discussed in more detailconnection with method 100 of FIG. 3. The audio looping device 18 n alsotransmits the loop information (i.e., the loop length, track length,loop type, and tempo) for at least one of the first audio loop and thesecond audio loop to the computing device 20 n along with the combinedaudio loop.

It is recognized that the combined audio loop may be transmitted to adifferent musician (i.e., not the musician 12 a). For example, thecomputing device 20 n may transmit the second audio loop to a computingdevice associated with a different musician.

FIG. 3 depicts a method 100 for generating timestamps for each of thefirst and the second audio loops in accordance to one embodiment. Thecomputing devices 20 a-20 n may use the timestamps to indicate whichaudio loop is the most recent audio loop that has been created so thatthe most recent loop and its corresponding loop information can bestored on a corresponding audio looping device 18.

In operation 102, the audio looping device 18 a records the musicalpiece that is played by the musician 12 a to generate the first audioloop and the first loop information (e.g., the loop length, the tracklength, the loop type, and the tempo for the first audio loop). Theaudio looping device 18 a generates a first timestamp corresponding to atime in which the first audio loop and the first loop information isgenerated.

In operation 104, the audio looping device 18 a transmits the firstaudio loop including the first timestamp and the first loop informationto the computing device 20 a.

In operation 106, the computing device 20 a is arranged by the musician12 a to establish a file share arrangement with other musicians selectedby the musician 12 a. As noted above, the computing device 20 a executessoftware on hardware thereof to enable the musician 12 a to select whichmusician(s) 12 is to receive the first audio loop and the first loopinformation.

In operation 108, the computing device 20 a may then transmit the firstaudio loop and the first loop information with the first timestamp tothe server 22. In turn, the server 22 transmits the first audio loop,the first loop information, and the first timestamp to the computingdevice 20 that is selected at the computing device 20 a. For purposes ofillustration, it will be assumed that the musician 12 n (i.e., thecomputing device 20 n) receives the first audio loop, the first loopinformation, and the first timestamp.

In operation 110, the computing device 20 n provides an indication tothe musician 12 n that the first audio loop has been received.

In operation 112, the computing device 20 n downloads the first audioloop, the first loop information, and the first timestamp onto the audiolooping device 18 n.

In operation 114, the audio looping device 18 n records the musicalpiece that the musician 12 n plays in addition to the first audio loopto generate the combined audio loop. As noted above, the combined audioloop includes the musical piece that is played along with the firstaudio loop (e.g., the second audio loop) in addition to the first audioloop. The audio looping device 18 n also generates second loopinginformation (i.e., the loop length, the track length, the loop type, andthe tempo for the second audio loop). The audio looping device 18 ngenerates a second timestamp corresponding to a time in which the secondaudio loop (or the combined audio loop) is generated thereof. The secondtimestamp will reflect that the second audio loop (or the combined audioloop) has been created at some time after the first audio loop wascreated.

In operation 116, the audio looping device 18 n wirelessly transmits thecombined audio loop, the first loop information (for the first audioloop), the second loop information (for the second audio loop), and thesecond timestamp to the computing device 20 n. In turn, the computingdevice 20 n transmits the same to the server 22 and to the computingdevice 20 a.

In operation 118, the computing device 20 n provides an indication tothe musician 12 n that the combined audio loop has been received tonotify the musician 12 a. The computing device 20 a recognizes that thesecond timestamp is later in time than the first timestamp and thus,this version that may be stored over the first audio loop. As notedabove, the computing device 20 a may or may not overwrite the firstaudio loop when subsequent audio loops are received.

In operation 120, the computing device 20 a downloads the combined audioloop, the second loop information, and the second timestamp onto theaudio looping device 18 a. The audio looping device 18 a overwrites thefirst audio loop and the first timestamp with the combined audio loopand the second timestamp in response to determining that the secondtimestamp indicates that the combined audio loop has been created afterthe first audio loop was created.

FIG. 4A depicts a method 150 for managing a multiple audio loops inaccordance to one embodiment.

In operation 152, the audio looping device 18 a stores the first audioloop and the first loop information as noted above. In this case, themusician 12 a creates the first audio loop and may be assignedadministrative privileges at the computing device 20 a since themusician 12 a was the first to create the audio loop.

In operation 154, the audio looping device 18 a wirelessly transmits thefirst audio loop and the first loop information to the computing device20 a. In turn, the computing device 20 a transmits the first audio loopto the server 22 and the server 22 transmits the same to the computingdevice 20 n.

In operation 156, the audio looping device 18 n receives the first audioloop and the first loop information from the computing device 20 n. Theaudio looping device 18 n generates the combined audio loop (e.g., thefirst audio loop and the second audio loop) and the second loopinformation as noted above.

In operation 158, the audio looping device 18 n transmits the combinedaudio loop, the first loop information and the second loop informationto the computing device 20 n. In turn, the computing device 20 ntransmits the same to the server 22.

In operation 160, the computing device 18 a receives the combined audioloop, the first loop information, and the second loop information. Asnoted in operation 152, the musician 12 a is deemed to haveadministrative rights since the musician 12 a was the first to createthe audio loop. This in turn provides the musician 12 a the ability torevise the combined audio loop either at the audio looping device 18 a,or at the computing device 20 a. For example, the musician 12 a mayremove the second audio loop on the combined audio loop if the musician12 a does not like what was added by the musician 12 n at either thecomputing device 20 a or the audio looping device 18 a. The computingdevice 18 a enables the musician 12 a to listen to the second audio loopprior to the combined audio loop being downloaded to the audio loopingdevice 18 a. If the musician 12 a does not like the second audio loop, auser interface (not shown) on the computing device 18 enables the userto delete the combined audio loop (or at least the second audio loop).

In general, when the first audio loop is created, the audio loopingdevice 18 a that generates the first audio loop electronically providesidentification along with the first audio loop. The identificationindicates which audio looping device 18 originated (or generated) thefirst audio loop and the first loop information. Such information issent to the computing devices 20 and to the server 22. The computingdevice 20 that is directly paired with the originated audio loopingdevice 18 (e.g., in our example the computing device 20 a and the audiolooping device 18) will also have the ability to revise the combinedaudio loop. In this case, during the initial pairing operation betweenthe audio looping device 18 a and the computing device 20 a, the audiolooping device 18 a provides its identification to the computing device20 a so that the computing device 20 a understands which audio loopingdevice 18 a it is wirelessly communicating with. Thus, in the case, whenthe computing device 20 a receives the identification from the audiolooping device 18 a, the computing device 20 a recognizes that themusician 12 a can revise the combined audio loop at a user interfacethereof since it wirelessly communicates with the audio looping device18 a and the indication provided by the audio looping device 18 aindicates that it was the first to generate the first audio loop. It isrecognized that the foregoing identification between the audio loopingdevice 18 a and the computing device 20 a may apply to other audiolooping devices 18 and computing devices 20.

In operation 162, the computing device 20 a transmits any changesperformed by the musician 12 a at either the audio looping device 18 aor the computing device 20 a on the combined audio loop to the server22. The server 22 will then transmit the revised combined audio loop tothe corresponding computing devices 20 that communicated with thevarious audio looping devices 18 that provided loops to the combinedaudio loop.

In general, the operations noted above in connection with FIG. 5illustrates the example in which the musician who is the first to recordthe first audio loop is deemed the master editor of any loops and anyloop information generated thereafter which incorporate the first audioloop. Consider the example of a guitarist who creates a first guitarloop and has an idea of what a subsequent drum track and bass trackshould sound like. In this case, the guitarist receives the drum trackand the bass track (each as loops) along with the underlying guitar loopand determines that he/she is not happy with the drum track. In thiscase, the guitarist may remove the drum track and leave the guitar andbass tracks (or loops) intact. The guitar and bass loops may be sent outagain to the drummer (i.e., with the drum track removed) so that thedrummer can record another drum loop with the guitar and bass loop.

FIG. 4B depicts a method 180 for voting on various audio loops createdby musicians 12 as performed by band members (or other interestedpersons/musicians) in accordance to one embodiment.

In operation 182, a multiple number of audio looping devices 18 generateor create various audio loops and loop information for particularinstruments 14. For example, a lead guitarist may generate a lead guitarloop at the audio looping device 18 a, a rhythm guitarist may generate arhythm guitar loop at the audio looping device 18 b, and a drummer maygenerate a drum loop at the audio looping device 18 n. It is recognizedthat for each loop that is created, each will have corresponding loopinformation.

In operation 184, the corresponding loops generated in operation 182 maybe electronically transmitted to the various computing devices 20 a-20 nassociated with the lead guitarist, the rhythm guitarist, and thedrummer where each of these musicians 20 can vote via their respectivecomputing device 20 whether the corresponding lead guitar loop, rhythmguitar loop, and/or drum guitar loop. In this case, the computingdevices 20 a-20 n will provide voting options with respect to thevarious loops. The computing devices 20 a-20 n may collect the votesfrom the lead guitarist, the rhythm guitarist, and the drummer andtransmit the same to the server 22. The server 22 collects the votesfrom the computing devices 20 a-20 n and determines which loops shouldbe removed or deleted. The corresponding loop information may also beremoved or deleted when applicable.

FIG. 4C depicts a method 200 for retaining or deleting various audioloops in accordance to one embodiment.

In operation 202, a multiple number of audio looping devices 18 generateor create various audio loops and corresponding loop information forparticular instruments 14. As noted above, the lead guitarist maygenerate a lead guitar loop at the audio looping device 18 a, the rhythmguitarist may generate a rhythm guitar loop at the audio looping device18 b, and the drummer may generate a drum loop at the audio loopingdevice 18 n. It is recognized that for each loop that is created, eachwill have corresponding loop information.

In operation 204, the corresponding loops and loop information generatedin operation 202 are electronically transmitted to the various computingdevices 20 a-20 n associated with the lead guitarist, the rhythmguitarist, and the drummer where each of these musicians 20 have theoption of deleting or retaining any one or more of the lead guitar loop,the rhythm guitar loop, and/or the drum guitar loop via their respectivecomputing device 20 (or their respective audio looping device 18). Forexample, the rhythm guitarist may select to retain the lead guitar audioloop and delete the drum loop at the computing device 20 (or at theaudio looping device 18). If the selection is performed at the computingdevice 20 associated with the rhythm guitarist, then the computingdevice 20 transmits the selection to the audio looping device 18 wherethe drum audio loop and corresponding loop information is removedtherefrom.

While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended thatthese embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather,the words used in the specification are words of description rather thanlimitation, and it is understood that various changes may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may becombined to form further embodiments of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: a first audio looping device being electrically coupled to a computing device, the first audio looping device being programmed to: receive a first audio signal from a musical instrument; store the first audio signal; playback the stored first audio signal as a first audio loop a number of times; transmit the first audio loop to a second audio looping device via the first computing device; and receive a second audio loop from the second audio looping device via the computing device.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first audio looping device is further programmed to playback the first audio loop and the second audio loop simultaneously.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first audio looping device includes a transceiver to wirelessly transmit the first audio loop to the computing device.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first audio looping device is further programmed to generate a first loop length, a first loop type, and a first tempo for the first audio loop.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the first audio looping device is further programmed to transmit the first loop length, the first loop type, and the first tempo for the first audio loop to the second audio looping device via the computing device.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the first audio looping device is further programmed to receive a second loop length, a second loop type, and a second tempo for the second audio loop.
 7. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the first loop length is an overall length of time of the first audio loop.
 8. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the first loop type is one of a fade out type in which the first audio loop is arranged to fade away at an end of the first audio loop, an instantaneous stop type in which the first audio loop stops playback thereof at a beginning of a next first audio loop, and an immediate stop loop in which the first audio loop stops playing immediately.
 9. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the first tempo is a number of beats per measure.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first audio looping device is further programmed to generate a first time stamp corresponding to a point in time in which the first audio loop has been generated.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the first audio looping device is further programmed to transmit the first timestamp to the first computing device for comparing the first timestamp to a second timestamp that corresponds to a point in time in which the second audio loop has been created and for notifying a user of the first audio looping device that the second audio looping has been received in response to the second timestamp indicating that the second audio loop has been generated after the first timestamp of the first audio loop.
 12. A computer-program product embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium that is programmed to enable communication between a first audio looping device that plays back a first audio loop a first number of times and a second audio looping device that plays back a second audio loop a second number of times, the computer-program product comprising instructions to: receive the first audio loop from the first audio looping device; transmit the first audio loop to the second audio looping device to generate the second audio loop; receive the second audio loop from the second audio looping device; and generate a notification to alert a user of the first audio looping device that the second audio loop from the second audio looping device has been received.
 13. The computer-program product of claim 12 further comprising instructions to download the second audio loop on the first audio looping device.
 14. The computer-program product of claim 12 further comprising instructions to enable a user to playback the second audio loop at a computing device.
 15. The computer-program product of claim 12 further comprising instructions to enable a user to delete the second audio loop at a computing device.
 16. The computer-program product of claim 12 further comprising instructions to: (i) receive the second audio loop along with the first audio loop as a combined audio loop from the second audio looping device; and (ii) overwrite the first audio loop as transmitted from the first audio looping device with the combined audio loop.
 17. The computer-program product of claim 12 further comprising instructions to establish a file share arrangement between musicians to enable transmission of the first audio loop from the first audio looping device to the second audio looping device and to enable transmission of the second audio loop from the second audio looping device to the first audio looping device.
 18. The computer-program product of claim 12 further comprising instructions to communicate with a server for transmitting the first audio loop to the second audio looping device.
 19. The computer-program product of claim 18 further comprising instructions to communicate with the server for transmitting the second audio loop to the first audio looping device.
 20. An apparatus comprising: a first audio looping device being electrically coupled to a computing device, the first audio looping device being programmed to: receive a first audio signal from a musical instrument; store the first audio signal; playback the stored first audio signal as a first audio loop a first number of times; transmit the first audio loop to a second audio looping device via the computing device; and receive a second audio loop from the second audio looping device via the computing device, the second audio loop including a second audio signal that is played back a second number of times. 